[Miata] Lateral Roll

[cagecko at comcast.net]

I had the exact same issue with the tires that were on my Miata when I bought it.  I tried swapping and rotating tires around the car and the problem persisted.  I had the car's alignment checked and it was fine.. 
I ended up buying new tires (even though the existing ones had plenty of tread on them and no visible signs of unusual wear patterns).. and the problem went away.

I think some tires are more prone to 'wiggle' of the tread, which seems to cause this problem,.. our cars have very sensitive suspension (which in my opinion is what gives them their great handling characteristics), which may make this problem more noticeable than what another type of car would display.

Just my feedback and experience.  Yours may be something else, loose suspension parts, ball joints, shocks, alignment, etc.
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Ralph Alder" <ralph at turbomx5.com>
> Before doing anything else, replace the worn front tires with a set matching
> the rears.  You didn't state if the rears were the same as the fronts.  If
> all you did was to add two new tires to the rear, you likely have a
> discrepancy between the slip angle between the front tires and the rears.
> You don't ever want to unknowingly mix tire types front to rear on a car
> noted for handling qualities.
> 
> Ralph Alder 
> Tustin, CA 
> '90 Classic Red 
> Team Orphan Aerodyne
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: miata-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:miata-bounces at realbig.com] On
> Behalf Of Chris
> > Klein
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 8:01 AM
> > To: Naked Pagan; miata at realbig.com
> > Subject: Re: [Miata] Lateral Roll
> > 
> > I would suspect alignment first... I had an alignment shop screw up an
> alignment job and one
> > rear wheel had too much toe and it drove exactly as you describe...
> > 
> > If you visibly have good parts all the way around have the alignment
> checked.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Chris Klein
> > www.thedigitalperspective.com
> > 
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: Naked Pagan <nkdpagan at hotmail.com>
> > To: miata at realbig.com
> > Sent: Monday, May 5, 2008 6:12:05 PM
> > Subject: [Miata] Lateral Roll
> > 
> > 
> > "Lateral roll" comes from my aviation background, its more of a rock from
> side to side.I own
> > a 93 with 125K. It has a brand new set of rear tires, a worn set in the
> front, shocks are a
> > year old and it just passed the state safety inspection.I've developed a
> sway from left to
> > right when I move the wheel to make a lane change. It lasts only a cycle
> or two, and can be
> > diminished with corrective steering. Its noticeable in city driving, but
> more pronounced at
> > 'express way' speeds, and can be a control issue. Kind of hairy when
> trying to pass between a
> > semi and a jersey barrier.What is the issue and how to resolve it? Gods
> are fragile things;
> > they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense.
> [Chapman Cohen]
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